Pipe shoe



1958 J. J. TETYAK 2,849,027

PIPE SHOE Filed Dec.'23, 1953 A wow/5K United States Patent This -invention-has-to do with structure for conducting fluids a'nd particularly to pipes having protective coatings thereon; .tl1etprir1'1ar y objectbeing toprovide a novel supporting; shoe :for the pipe section;

Fora number of-years P there has been: considerable I activity inlth e field ofcovering pipes'with materials to prevent-corrosionthereof; ApipIe-line such as-thatused for conducting; naturalgas or petroleum before I being, buried, r is frequently coated with a corrosion-proof--'material= as, for example, viscous bituminouscompositions;

The pipe-is thereupon wrapped with preparedr'oofingt paperwor the like. Oftentimes the corrosion-proof'material: is anasphalt composition heated to facilitate I ap-- applied directly to i the plicationthereof or otherwise Pi ticularly undersirable in the material which 1ies=beneaththe Wrapping paper. Such holidays may be due to imperfect application of the coverings or damage thereto during the wrapping process. More often, the damage occurs during handling of the coatedpipes subsequent to the' coating operation during transport, during weldihgof the joints of the pipe sections; anddu'ring layingfand coveringofthe coatedpipe:

It" has beenmecessary, therefore, to'use extreme care prior to'buri'al inattemptingto 'detect the flaws and many types of holiday detectors 'areprese'ntly-on themarket for" such purpose: Upon'detectinga' flaw it becomes ncessary to patchthe defect' and it "is manifest 'tli'attime andexpenseinvolved in-removing a large numberof flaws in the pipe, presents-'a very definite problem to the entire industry.

According to the present invention, therefore, there is included a plurality of shoes for the pipe sections connected directly thereto and designed to support the pipe in such manner as to materially reduce accidental damage to the coating thereof from the time the coating is applied until after the same is laid and covered.

It is the most important object of the present invention to provide structure for conducting fluids that includes a pipe having a noncorrosive covering thereon, together with a number of shoes, each provided with concavities conforming in contour to the configuration of the pipe for cradling the latter and thereby holding the same elevated so that the coating is protected against damage.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide novel means of interconnecting the shoes and the pipe and including means within the concavities bonding the hoses directly to the coatings on the pipes and made of resilient material so that the shoes have limited movement with respect to the pipe.

Other important objects will appear during the course It is-extremelyimportant to know, after the corrosion proof coating andwrapping' are applied, whether-unnotthe coatingtcontains flaws 'or pinholeswhich maypermit access ofground water or other corrosive agents' to the 2,849,027 Patented Aug. 26, 1958 of thefollowing specification; reference being bad to'the accompanying. drawing; wherein:

Figure 1- is-anelevational view ofaplu'rality ofpipes in; stacked, interconnectedrelationship and having; shoes ne'ct'edpipes in elevation; together with' supportingshoes therefor.-

The: pipe shoe formingth subject matter of the present inventionisbest seen in Fig. 5 of the drawing, and is broadly designated by the numeral 10. It may be made from any suitable-rigidmaterial, but, by virtue of the contemplated-use tobemade-thereof as hereinafter set forth, it is to bepreferred that the same be of non-" corrosiue' material: or berendered corrosion-proof by" special treatment.

Exceptfor :the provisionof a-concavity or depression 12 'in-the b1ock-like:shoe10, it mayltake a polygonal form as shown, presenting a flat, substantially square bottom"14,- a pairof fiat;- parallel; rectangular sidewalls 16 'and: 18,: and apair' of 'flat, parallel end walls 20= and In -the-formof shoe 10 chosen for illustration, the de-" pression- 12 is elongated, extends longitudinally ofthe'" shoe=1.0,'and' istransversely arcuate conforming in con figuration with thecontour of cylindrical pipes 24 w which the-shoe'10 is securedf The substantially semi-cylindrical concavity 12 isadapted to cradle the pipes 24 andas above-indicatedgz to thereby; protect coatings 26 thereon. It is tobe preferred that the shoe"s 10*be' attached to the coatings 26 so that the same remainthereon after joining of the abutting;

into ditch 32 dug for-such purpose, the -loWerrnost faces 14 ofth'e' shoes- 10 lie' fiat-ly on the botton of the ditch 32 and thereby protect the coverings 26 until the'ditclfi 32 is filled: withdi-rt and-{' the 1 entire fluid-conducting structured ground; T

As above indicated, the coatings 26 are applied to the pipes 24 for the purpose of protecting the same against corrosion and these coverings are well adapted to have the shoes 10 attached directly thereto in any suitable manner such as by bonding. To this extent, therefore, the entire surfaces with an adhesive coating and the shoes plied to the coating 26 of such adhesive.

In addition to the utilization of proper material for attaching the shoes 10 so as to assure against accidental displacement, it is important that the joinder be such as to permit limited movement of the shoes 10 relative to the pipes 24. Thus, during handling, and as the shoes 10 are moved against other objects, itwill not become easily torn loose from the coatings 26, thereby requiring repair of the latter to remove holidays that would result therefrom.

Adhesive substance for coating the concavity 12 should, therefore, be chosen so as to present a resilient pad between the shoe 10 and the coating 26 which will be 10 thereupon apso as to join the shoes 10 by use of the stacks of pipes therebyburied-beneath the surfaces'='ofthe of the concavities 12 may be covered yieldable to slight and limited movement of the shoe relative to the coating 26.

One satisfactory way of mounting the shoe upon the pipe 26 is illustrated in Figs. 2 to 4 inclusive, and includes a substantially semi-cylindrical liner 34 of suitable resilient material, and which may be connected to both the coating 26 and to the shoe 10 within its concavity 12. One means of so interconnecting the shoe 10 with the coating 26, through the liner 34, is by use of adhesives 36 and 38 on both surfaces of the liner 34 so as to bond the same both to the coating 26 and to the shoe 10 within its concavity 12.

In this method of bonding the shoe 10 to the coating 12, the liner 34 serves as the pad between the pipe 24 and its shoe since it is to be preferred that the liner 34 be made from a suitable resilient material such as sponge rubber. Keeping in mind however, that the entire struc ture should be corrosion-proof, many resilient materials of a synthetic nature may be employed to produce the lining 34 and to this end it is to be preferred that the latter conform in size both longitudinally and transversely to the dimensions of the depression 12.

Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing illustrate how the shoe 10, forming the subject matter of this invention, lends itself excellently to stacking of the pipe sections 24 and at the same time holding the same spaced-apart so that the protective coatings 26 thereon, are not damaged as has heretofore been the case where it has been necessary for the pipes 24 to be stacked with their coatings 26 in interengagement.

Two or more stacks of the pipes 24 may be arranged in side-by-side relationship with the ends of the shoes 10 in abutment, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, and to facilitate handling and/ or shipment such stacks of pipes 24 may be bound into a unit through use of a plurality of surrounding bands 40. A relatively large number of pipe sections 24 thus bound together may be easily handled because it permits the use of finger-lifts or other loading and unloading devices, thereby eliminating handling of the pipes 24 individually.

To protect the coating 26 when lengths of pipe 24 are stacked and bound into units of convenient sizes, a second shoe 10 is placed on the pipe in cooperative, opposed relation to the one that is retained on the pipe when it is buried. This second shoe is identical to the permanently fixed, normally lower shoe with the exception that it need not be affixed in as permanent a manner as the lower shoe. The liner is the same as the lower shoe so far as its protective characteristics are concerned.

When the pipe of the units are bound together, the shoes fully protect the coating 26 and band 40 is in engagement with shoes 10 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Two or more shoes 10 may be applied to each pipe section 24 respectively, as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the draw-' ing, and the presence thereof on the pipe sections 24 will not in any way interfere with normal handling thereof from the time of shipment at the point of coating to the point of use and burial within the ground as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawing.

Accordingly, while details of construction may vary within the spirit of the present invention, it is desired to be limited only by the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

A composite pipe shipping unit comprising in combination a plurality of side-by-side horizontally spaced rows of vertically stacked parallel pipes, each pipe having a corrosion-proof protective coating, a non-corrosive spacer for each pipe, each spacer including an upper shoe and an opposed identical lower shoe, each shoe having a pair of opposed, flat, vertical end walls, an elongated, transversely arcuate, substantially semi-circular concavity extending from one end wall to the opposite end wall, each concavity conforming in contour to and receiving a corresponding pipe in partial surrounding relationship thereto, a pair of opposed, flat, vertical side walls and a flat horizontal face in opposed relationship to the concavity, proximal faces of the shoes of each spacer being in interengagement, each row of vertically stacked pipes being disposed adjacent one row of adjacent vertically stacked pipes, adjacent rows having proximal side walls of the shoes thereof in interengagement, pads lining the concavities, adhesive means bonding the pads of one shoe of each spacer to the pipe coatings, the shoes all being separate one from the other and the other shoe of each spacer being unbonded to the pipes, said pads being resilient whereby the shoes have limited movement relative to the pipe coating; and a continuous rectangular band surrounding the rows of stacked pipe to hold the shoes and pipes together.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 395,584 Phipps Jan. 1, 1889 1,804,478 Parker May 12, 1931 1,822,475 Burke Sept. 8, 1931 1,858,101 McAfee May 10, 1932 2,021,370 Mallay Nov. 19, 1935 2,039,387 Burke et al. May 5, 1936 2,491,013 Noll et al Dec. 13, 1949 2,551,867 Bond May 8, 1951 2,766,660 Laddon et al. Oct. 16, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 4,652 Great Britain 1897 

